1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a holding device for a mobile telephone, in particular a holding device which is suitable for installation in a motor vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Holders or holding devices for mobile telephones are preferably used in motor vehicles in order, on the one hand, to hold the mobile telephones securely and, on the other hand, to provide electrical contact of the mobile telephones with handsfree sets installed in the motor vehicles and with external antennas provided on the motor vehicles. Holding devices of the type described above must meet numerous general requirements which relate essentially to their ability to be handled by the user, the mechanical reliability of the holding devices, the holding properties of the mobile telephone, and the reliability of the electrical contacting.
The mechanical reliability relates to, in particular, the necessary robustness of the holding device. Thus, the holding device should be designed in such a manner that it can withstand numerous handling processes by the user. Furthermore, the holding device should withstand in a suitable manner the stresses on it which are caused by the operation of the motor vehicle in which the holding device is installed, in particular, vibrations due to use of the motor vehicle but also stresses of acceleration which can occur during traffic accidents.
In principle, the mechanical connection between the holding device and the mobile telephone under the action of the stresses described above must also be ensured by suitable design of the holding properties. On the other hand, the holding properties also affect the ability to handle the mobile telephone since they, for example, have to be overcome during disengagement of the mobile telephone from the holding device.
Electrical contacting between components which are installed in the motor vehicle and the mobile telephone, which provides a corresponding interface for the contacting, must be provided reliably. In so doing, the previously described stresses due to the operation of the motor vehicle must be taken into account. The electrical contacting should in addition also take place without faults after a plurality of actuations, i. e. insertion or withdrawal processes.
The ability to handle the mobile telephone relates in particular to stresses which necessarily occur due to actuation of the holding device for a particular purpose.
There are numerous different holding devices for mobile telephones which are available on the market and which are based on different technological approaches to their realization.
EP 1 055 562 B1 describes, for example, a holding device which provides a tray for accommodating a mobile telephone. Fixation pins, which are provided on the tray and engage in receptacles which are provided at suitable points of the housing of the mobile telephone, serve, in connection with a carriage, for the fixation of the mobile telephone in the tray. Due to the type of fixation described, the handling of the insertion and withdrawal is not simple, in particular if the user has only one free hand available. Furthermore, the receptacles in the housing of the mobile telephone entail, for the fixation pins of the holding device, a predetermined configuration of the housing of the mobile telephone. The receptacles in the housing are expensive and the configuration of the mobile telephone is restricted by the receptacles to be provided.